Durban Travel Guide

Durban Overview

Delightful Durban is the largest city of the vast and varied
KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. A coastal port with a more
than equable sub-tropical climate and wide golden beaches washed by
the warm Indian Ocean, Durban is a holidaymaker's paradise and
gateway to the dozens of seaside resort towns of the coast to the
south and north of the city. The 'Golden Mile' central beach area,
flanked by numerous high-rise hotels, stretches for four miles
(6km) and is fronted by promenades and entertainment facilities
with many things to see and do, such as a skatepark, flea markets
and colourful traditionally clad Zulu rickshaw pullers.

Although much of Durban is characterised by British colonial
heritage and beautiful Art Deco architecture, the city is actually
an exciting mix of cultures. There is a large Indian community,
descendants of indentured labourers who came to work on the Natal
sugar estates in the 1850s, and who provide the city with an
intoxicating oriental flavour enhanced by their shrines, bazaars
and tantalising curry restaurants. There are also the Zulu people,
whose proud warrior ancestors inhabited the province before the
coming of the European colonial powers. The heritage of the amaZulu
is very evident in the region north of the Tugela River, known as
Zululand, where the legendary King Shaka once ruled supreme and
today is where most of KwaZulu-Natal's best game parks are to be
found.

Durban is the gateway not only to the coastal beach resorts of
the province, but also to the rolling hills and plains of the Natal
Midlands and their backdrop: the majestic, jagged peaks of the
Drakensberg Mountains, which border the province in the west and
cradle the nearby mountain kingdom of Lesotho.

Travel guide by (c) Globe Media Ltd. By its very nature much of the information in this travel guide is subject to change at short notice and travellers are urged to verify information on which they're relying with the relevant authorities. We cannot accept any responsibility for any loss or inconvenience to any person as a result of information contained above.